I might be making too much of this but when he gave off the handball to hepp for the goal he appeared to deliberately turn his back to the Geelong player to give hepp an extra bit of space to get the kick away. When you look at the reverse angle hepp takes the ball and looks around almost doing a double take like he can’t believe the space is there.

He sort of reminds me of Jobe who had an inauspicious debut of 2 handballs in his 1 and only game in 2003. Comparatively speaking, Clarke did really well. For the record Jobe played 7 in 2004 and 5 the following year with 2006 being his breakout year with 21 games!

If, finally Worsfold relents and looks at more extensive “tagging” Clarke is the one .

As we know he can win the ball in his own right, but in his first few games, being given a role on the top opposition inside mid will definitely pay dividends imo. Theres a player at North Melbourne Ben Jacobs, who plays that role and very very effectively.

It takes time to get a young player going in the midfield at AFL level. I reckon I will spew if Worsfold drops him.

It’s interesting you say that because the talent that I think Clarke has that sets him apart at Essendon is the ability to read the rucks and be at the drop of the ball. That is what I saw on the couple of televised VFL games I have been able to watch. DJR will probably the best judge of that comment.
Anyway to me that makes Clarke an offensive weapon rather than a defensive one. However it does pay to be able to work both ways.

I like him but I also kind of only want him in the senior side if he’s getting decent minutes in the midfield. HFF is not his go - hopefully he spends a bit more time around the contest if we keep him in this week.